07 May 2010

Cincinnati Bengals rookie Geno Atkins was selected as a fourth-round draft pick from Georgia. But that was after at least one team posed a rather curious question to the 6'1, 290lb defensive tackle. "The only unusual question I got was if I was straight or gay," Atkins told the Associated Press. "And that was about
it."

Atkins did not identify the team and Outsports' Cyd Ziegler suggests it's probably standard procedure: "Unfortunately, he didn’t say what his answer was. Either way, you have
to assume it’s not just one team asking, or that Atkins was the only one
asked.

And let's add that it's to Atkins' credit that he saw the question about his sexuality as "unusual"... and publicly said so.

23 April 2010

On Thursday, Oklahoma State wide receiver Dez Bryant was selected 24th in the NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys. Two days before, the Dallas Morning News profiled the Cowboys draft target and focused on Bryant's troubled family life and relationship with his mother Angela, who had Dez when she was only 15 years old and later came out as lesbian.

"He has dealt with a
change in his mother's sexual orientation in a conservative town
of about 32,000, located in the heart of the Bible Belt.... Just don't
question Angela's love for Dez, 19-year Lyeddia and 17-year-old
Deon. Angela
Bryant attended most of his games at Oklahoma State, making the
eight-hour drive from Lufkin to Stillwater with Carldelro King, Dez's
best friend. She took an 18-hour bus ride to Athens, Ga., to see
Dez's college debut against Georgia in 2007.

Mother and son don't believe in secrets. Honesty, even if it hurts, is
the foundation of their relationship. That's how they worked through Angela's change in sexual orientation.
Dez was in high school when he learned his mother was no longer
interested in romantic relationships with men. 'I didn't like it. Really, I still don't,' he said. "I dealt with it
and now I'm comfortable with it.' Angela
broached the topic with him because she didn't want her sexuality
creating a wedge between them. 'It hurt me that
it hurt him. I'm very happy about the relationship that we have,' Angela said. 'I wasn't close with my parents, so it's important
for me to be close with my kids. I'm not a
typical mom, but my kids know I love them. They can tell me
anything and I'll do anything for them.' "

If it was "tough" for Dez to cope with his single mom's sexuality in the small, conservative Bible Belt town of DeSoto Texas, how do you think Mom feels?

"First is the multiple uses of the term “sexual preference” to describe
Bryant’s mother being a lesbian. I contacted the Morning News
and got them to change it online to “sexual orientation,” since “sexual
preference” has been listed in the AP Stylebook as a term to avoid since
at least 2006. Unfortunately, it went out in the print edition as
“sexual preference.” It’s shocking to me that the sports staff at a
major newspaper would not be aware of this."